The Government is expected to rule this week on the fate of hundreds of
interpreters who work alongside British forces in Afghanistan.

The imminent decision by No 10 comes after a campaign to give the 600 workers
the right to refuge in Britain when Nato forces leave the country next year.
The interpreters who served in Helmand could be covered by a programme of
preferential treatment for asylum — as Britain offered to its interpreters
after Iraq.

David Cameron is expected to chair a meeting of the National Security Council
tomorrow where the issue will be discussed. The Government is understood

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Hashmat Nawabie sits in his room in a refugee camp outside Frankfurt beneath a Union Jack, his only possession apart from his clothes and a folder of testimonials from grateful British officers.

Until August 2012, Mr Nawabie, 26, was a senior Afghan interpreter at Camp Bastion in Helmand, in charge of hundreds of Afghan staff employed at the British base. Now he is marooned.

Like other Army interpreters he fled Taleban insurgents who threatened to kill him.

Officials acknowledge the threats to his life are true. But unlike other countries, Britain has yet to make any provision for its interpreters. Several soldiers have since tried to help — sending him money and messages of support.